


I Wanna Watch The World Burn (I Got The Gasoline)

by eruditeprincess



Category: Humans (TV)
Genre: F/M, Filling In the Gaps, Fluff, Mild Sexual Content, Sexual Content, Spoilers for 3x03, and the morning after, finally resolved feelings, leotilda fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-01
Updated: 2018-06-01
Packaged: 2019-05-17 01:41:42
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,920
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14822813
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/eruditeprincess/pseuds/eruditeprincess
Summary: Filling in the gaps of the night Leo and Mattie had, and confronting the morning after.3x03 based, Leo centric.





	I Wanna Watch The World Burn (I Got The Gasoline)

**Author's Note:**

> So this is my first Leotilda fic! If you haven't seen 3x03 or know what happens between Leo and Mattie in that episode, stop reading now until you catch up!
> 
> I am so so happy about what happened in that episode and wrote this the best I could in my excitement over two nights. I hope people enjoy it, even though it isn't the best piece I've ever done. I love these two fabulous hacker babes and I'm so so happy about 3x03.
> 
> My tumblr is erudite-princess, so feel free to come scream at me about Humans and other stuff I enjoy. I appreciate kudos and comments but I'm not fussed if you don't leave them or don't enjoy the fic.
> 
> Title is from 'World Burn' from Mean Girls: The Musical, because it was on loop the entire time I was writing and I considered the idea that people might think of the synth awakening as someone doing it out of pure spite, to watch the world burn and turn into chaos. I don't know, I just liked it and couldn't think of a better title.
> 
> I hope people do enjoy this fic, and have a wonderful day/week, I hope!

He could feel her eyes on him, watching him closely as the train chugged through the countryside. He tried to focus on her laptop in front of him, scanning through the articles displayed about Day Zero. He found himself becoming frustrated as his eyes had to keep going over the same words over and over, processing them slower than he was used to. His frustration must have registered on his face, as her hand went to rest over his, where it had involuntarily curled into a fist. Her fingers softly stroked his knuckles, running over the bones as they protruded out of his hand.

“Hey,” she whispered, a small smile playing on her lips. He relaxed back into his seat, shutting the laptop with his free hand. She took it off of the table, stuffing it back in her bag, her face turning away from him as she focused on her bag, shuffling books around. One fell on the floor, and he picked it up, thumb stroking over the cover. He felt almost as if he was entranced by the stars on the cover, and his finger brushed over the silhouette at the bottom. He went to hand the book back to her, but she shook her head, pushing it into his hands.

“Can I…?” his voice trailed off.

“Read it? Yeah, go on. I don’t mind,” her voice was slightly louder than before, but held an almost intimate tone, as if they were the only two people on the train. He opened the book, marvelling in the feel of pages, a sensation he hadn’t felt in a long time. He felt her eyes back on him as he began reading, the adventures of the story drawing him in.

 

He didn’t stop reading until they reached London, where Mattie helped him off the train, his arm slung around her shoulders. He noted the almost possessive quality that the action held, with her supporting his waist. He stepped out on to the platform, and felt almost overwhelmed at the sea of sensations that washed over him, the shouting passengers, the squawk of pigeons as people moved in their way, the low hum of trains as they departed from the station, and the rumble of traffic outside. He felt Mattie’s hand grasp his as she started to walk, forcing him to catch up with her. They got through the ticket barriers quickly, and she slowed, letting him sit on a bench and regain his bearings, her hand not leaving his. He squeezed her hand and she squeezed back, sitting next to him as he breathed. She turned her phone on, and he watched the screen flicker to life, displaying messages from Laura. She tapped out a response, her fingers moving quickly over the screen, _on my way, Leo is with me, will explain later x_ , and looked back to him, motioning her head towards the exit. He let her slowly pull him up, his arm settling on her shoulders again as she practically carried him towards a taxi, helping him into the back as she gave the driver her address.

 

He had vague memories of being in the house before, when he got injured. As Mattie knocked on the door, he remembered his hand pushing the door open, finding Laura in the kitchen. Everything after that was fuzzy, but he was relieved when Laura opened the door, a disapproving look on her face directed at Mattie. He felt Mattie raise her shoulders in a soft shrug, displacing him slightly as she spoke.

“Forgot my key,” Mattie’s voice felt closer to how he remembered it, not the soft voice she’d used with him on the train or in the taxi.

“What’s he doing here?”  
“He didn’t have anywhere to go. He’s human now. C’mon mum, let him stay?” Mattie sounded like she was _pleading_ , something he couldn’t remember her doing before.

“Only a few days,” Laura was stern, but he felt Mattie relax as she helped him in, letting him lean against a wall as she took off her bag, moving to the living room. He heard exclamations from the living rooms, shouts of “Mattie!” coming presumably from her siblings. He couldn’t see Joe, and something faint tugged at his memories, trying to extract something from his brain. He saw Laura leave, heard her telling someone to put out two extra plates for dinner. He heard a shout of “Leo!” as Sophie rounded the corner, and he smiled at her from where she stood in the doorway. She ran to him, pulling him into the living room and letting him sit on the sofa.

 

Dinner felt tense, as the orange-eyed synth slowly spooned food onto each plate. Laura had introduced him and Mattie to the synth, who was apparently called Stanley and required as Laura was on something called the Dryden Commission. He felt everyone tense when he asked about Joe, Laura handling his question. He was frustrated that he couldn’t remember the breakup of Joe and Laura, that he couldn’t remember important things in the lives of his friends. Mattie’s hand went over his again, briefly, before she turned to her own meal, joking about human memory with Toby. His hands shook minutely as he picked up his fork, stabbing into the meal.

 

Sophie pulled him onto the sofa once dinner was over, insisting he read with her, as apparently Stanley wasn’t allowed to read her anything with blood in it. The book she pushed into his hands seemed innocuous enough, but he was surprised as he began reading aloud at how brutal the story of The Little Mermaid was. Sophie pouted when he asked if she should be reading it, and Toby mentioned a film version, apparently by a company called Disney. He told himself to ask Mattie about it, or look it up on her laptop later.

 

The next day was just him and Mattie in the house, and he let her sleep for most of the day, him sitting downstairs and browsing through the collections of DVDs the Hawkins seemed to own. He picked one at random with a colourful cover, sliding it into the DVD player and settling into the sofa to watch it. He guessed this was a Disney film, with colourful characters and a child-friendly message. When he finished, he worked down the pile, getting to a film about a princess in a tower by the time Mattie sleepily walked into the living room. Her hair was slightly ruffled and he smiled at her as she walked in. She proceeded to the kitchen, the kettle suddenly bursting to life.

“Cup of coffee?” she asked, and he nodded. She pulled two mugs down from the cupboard above her head, grabbing spoons from a drawer by her hip. He found himself watching her more than the film, her reaching around the kitchen to grab instant coffee. He looked away when her t-shirt rode up, exposing a small sliver of skin on her back, trying to focus back on the film. He saw the mug of coffee appear in front of him, and he smiled at Mattie as she settled herself into the armchair next to the sofa, clutching her mug in front of her almost protectively. He turned back to the film, watching the screen intently. He wanted to see if Mattie was looking at him, as she had done so much in the past few days since he woke up, but he decided against it, instead sipping his coffee.

 

Laura gave Mattie some notes when she got home, suggesting that Mattie order takeaway for them all as Laura was going out. Mattie smiled slightly, her tone teasing as she asked “hot date?” and Laura rolled her eyes, Stanley settling near the door to wait for Laura to be ready. He heard Sophie’s cheer as Mattie suggested pizza, and sat on the sofa, watching the hustle and bustle of the house. He was surprised when Laura emerged, pressing her phone into his hand, explaining it was Mia on the end of the line. His relief at speaking to Mia was almost overwhelming, and he felt that their conversation was over too quickly, especially with the interruption from Sophie, as he put the phone down and found Mattie leaning against the doorframe, watching him. She looked down after a moment, pushing her hand through her hair, messing up the waves.

“Pizza will be about half an hour,” she said, before turning on her heel and disappearing upstairs.

 

He dug in enthusiastically when the pizza arrived, the grease sticking to his fingers. He watched as the Hawkins siblings joked together, Toby and Sophie fighting over the last slice of pepperoni whilst Mattie ate a slice of margarita. Dinner felt like a whirlwind of in-jokes and laughter, and he couldn’t remember the last time he experienced a meal this lively with anyone. Dinners back before his father’s death were quiet, and he never got to savour mealtimes when he was on the run. He kept looking at Mattie as they all ate, and she caught him looking at her a few times, and he looked down.

 

When they were all full, and Sophie was off to bed and Toby busy writing out work in his notepad, he and Mattie were on the sofa. He felt himself smiling as Mattie suggested that they head out for a drink, Toby joking about him finally getting drunk as a human. He chose not to mention never being drunk before, choosing to just grab a jacket as Mattie almost leaped off the sofa, grabbing herself a jacket. He walked out to the hallway, waiting as Mattie grabbed her keys, before they went out into the cold night together.

 

He saw the bright lights of the pub before she did, and he must have exclaimed out loud as she smiled softly, biting her lip. He was confused as a woman made a comment about him looking for a ‘cougar’, and he felt Mattie start shaking with laughter next to him, and he put his hands on her shoulders to stabilise her as they kept walking. He found himself giggling with her, as her laughter was infectious, and he let her guide him as she kept walking down the street, streetlights occasionally bathing her face in an orange-gold glow. She stopped at a fence, staring in at the building behind the fence.

“I used to dread seeing these gates every day,” her voice was slightly sad as she spoke.

“Can we go in?” he felt an almost childlike hope spark in his chest.

“Maybe. Why?”

“I never went to school. Do you not want to?”

“It seems weird being back, that’s all. C’mon,” she said, leading him to a partially open gate. They made their way to the bike racks, and he stared into the stairwell of the building almost longingly. He wrinkled his nose.

“It smells like-”

“Piss.”  
“Piss, yeah,” they stood in silence for a few moments, before Mattie spoke.

“I can’t believe I wasted seven years here,” she walked over to the outer bike racks, staring out over the fields.

“What are your classmates up to?”  
“I don’t know. Curing cancer, cracking code,” he must have looked like he believed her, “nah, all entry level positions were taken by synths, so they’ll be living a relaxed life. None of them are great mass murderers,” she turned away from him further, and he felt a spurt of anger shoot through him.

“No, you don’t talk like that, Mattie. You didn’t do that. The code did that. You’re just… you’re just punishing yourself. Like being by my bedside for a year.”

“I did move from your bedside,” she protested weakly, but he was on a roll.

“Mattie, you sat there due to guilt over what had happened, thinking that being with synths would somehow help absolve you of whatever you think you did when you released that code-”

“You know why I sat by your bedside, Leo?” Mattie whirled around to face him, her eyes fiery, “Because it certainly wasn’t out of guilt. I didn’t want you to die, and I didn’t want to wake up and find you gone and have you die, because I, I…” her voice trailed off, and she sighed, walking away towards the gate they’d come in through. He felt himself process her words, and he remembered her telling him Hester had told her to go, over a year ago. He felt a warmth in his stomach as he watched her retreating back, and it was as if his worldview finally made sense.

 

He trailed behind her the entire way back to the house, always a few steps behind her. He watched her unlock the door and let it swing shut behind her. He caught the door before it slammed, and shut it gently as he entered. He heard her footsteps retreating upstairs, and he followed her, finding her moving around her room. She pushed past him, muttering about her room being a pit, and he felt a wave of affection as she tried to clear her room around him. He ducked his head as she came close to him, instinctively trying to catch her lips in a soft kiss. Her lips were softer than he imagined, and he felt himself relax as she stopped in front of him. She looked up at him for a moment, her eyes flickering between his eyes and his lips, and he could have sworn his heart stopped for a moment, before she went on her tiptoes and he bent slightly to meet her in a second kiss. Her hand stroked down his jaw, and he moved one hand into her hair, his other gripping her hip gently, holding her steady as their lips met, at first messily but slowly improving as they learned the rhythm of each other. His hand felt large in her hair, thumb resting by her cheek. Her hair was soft, and he wanted to tangle his hands in it as they kept kissing, gentle open-mouthed kisses that melted him slightly. Her hands began to push his jacket off of him, and he let his arms down, letting his jacket fall to the floor, before her fingers began playing with the hem of his jumper, pushing it up to reveal his skin underneath. He pulled his jumper off, and felt Mattie’s fingers graze the scar on his abdomen. Her fingers were soft and gentle, tracing part of the edge of the scar, before she looked back up at him, before he leant in once more to capture her lips in a soft kiss. She placed one hand on his side, the other on his shoulder, as she led them backwards, his hands going back to her hair and waist. She let out a small yelp as the backs of her knees hit the bed, and she fell backwards. He looked mortified, and she smiled up at him.

“Shut the door, will you please? Don’t want anyone to see anything,” her smile was soft, and he turned to shut the door firmly. When he turned back she was still sat there, biting her lip as she looked up at him, dark eyes shining in the dim light. Her hands gripped his hips as she began to pull him down, laying back as he fell, landing next to her on the bed. She brought one hand up and slid over his jaw, slowly kissing him. His hands settled at the hem of her jumper, playing with it and slowly sliding his long fingers under the hem to the skin beneath. He marvelled in how soft she felt, her body slowly beginning to press up against him, her chest starting to push against his. He felt his confidence growing as her hand moved down his chest, stopping to caress his scar every so often and flicking at the waistband of his jeans. He pulled away, helping her to remove her top, and felt his body freeze at the sight of her. He saw her eyes flicker up to his, worry evident in the look he gave her.

“I’m fine,” he reassured her, stroking a hand down her arm. She relaxed as he leant back in to capture her lips once more, nipping softly at her lip as he grew bolder. She toyed with the button of his jeans, and he pulled away once more, looking down and helping her flick the button out of its loop. After that, everything became a blur as she tugged his jeans down his legs and he kicked them off, before repeating the action with her jeans. She ended up on top of him as they moved properly onto the bed, her hand dipping into the waistband of his boxers, and his mind went blank as prickles of pleasure moved through him. He was vaguely aware of his groans and utterances of _fuck, Mattie, like that, yeah_ echoing through the room, Mattie shushing him as he got louder and louder, waves of pleasure overcoming him. As he came down from his high, he was aware of Mattie’s mouth kissing his neck, feather light kisses that set his nerves alight. His hands moved down her chest, and she unlatched her bra, tossing it off to the side of the room. He remembered them removing their underwear, her rolling a condom down him and the soft gasp she made when he was inside her. The world felt like it was fading as pleasure overtook him, her soft, quiet moans in his ear growing lower as she got closer to her end, and he recalled moaning her name into her shoulder as he came, his eyes closing as he rode out the wave of pleasure, her atop him.

 

“Everyone always talks about Day Zero, speculating what caused it,” she says, when his arm is wrapped around her and they are spent from the actions. He turns his head to her, watching her face as she stares at the ceiling, “or who, really. Everyone assumes it was a system glitch now, something random in an update. We had to talk about it in my class, once. It was speculation over if it was deliberate, but I’ll never forget what one of my classmates said,” she pressed her lips together, sighing softly. He rubbed circles into her shoulder, pressed a soft kiss against it before he spoke.

“What did they say?”

“Whoever released the code must have wanted to watch the world burn.”

“You did what was right to save Mia, Mattie. That’s all you did,” she looked at him and he pressed another kiss to her shoulder.

“I can’t help but wonder if that’s what I did though. I hated synths for so long, and then I’m the one to give them consciousness at the cost of one hundred and ten _thousand_ human lives, and I can’t get the weight of that off my shoulders,” he pulled her closer, pulling her on to his chest. He pressed a kiss to her forehead, letting her settle her head on his bare chest.

“We do what we think is right in the moment. The code caused those deaths, but you shouldn’t punish yourself over it, as you’ll wallow in it for the rest of your life. You will carry it with you, I know, but don’t let it define you. You’re still the Mattie I met. You released that code to save Mia, not to kill thousands. This Day Zero stuff wasn’t what you intended, but you can’t punish yourself for it forever, Mattie,” she looked up at him as he spoke, and then back down, letting out a long breath.

“We’d best sleep. Mum will want to talk to me tomorrow,” she adjusted her position on the bed, turning away from him and pulling the duvet from the bottom of the bed up to cover her. He pressed his lips together before he joined her, one arm slung around her waist as he cuddled her from behind. She relaxed into his chest, and her breathing evened out, and eventually he drifted off to sleep.

 

They awoke to the sound of Laura knocking on the door, calling “Mattie?”

“What, mum?” Mattie’s voice was rough from sleep, and Leo found it incredibly endearing as he drifted into consciousness.

“Have you seen Leo? He normally sleeps on the sofa, but I can’t find him. I want to check he’s okay, with his, y’know, being newly out of a coma,” Laura’s voice became more insistent. Mattie sighed and grabbed the jumper Leo was wearing the night before off the carpet, it seeming to swamp her, before opening the door.

“He’s in here, mum. I thought he might want to sleep in a bed,” Leo could see Laura staring into the room from the door, at the clothes scattered around the room and Leo’s obvious shirtlessness in bed. Laura nodded, smiling at her daughter tightly.

“Well, get yourselves dressed, as Stanley is making breakfast downstairs. Don’t want the food to get cold,” Laura turned on her heel to go downstairs but turned back around, “oh, and Mattie? You might want to wear your own clothes to breakfast, as else Toby and Sophie might think something is up,” with that, Laura turned around and went down the stairs. Mattie shut her door, resting her back against it and sighing. Leo found himself giggling at her, his jumper skimming the top of her thighs as she stood there. She glared at him, and he suppressed his giggles, but couldn’t suppress his smile.

“You look good in my jumper,” he found himself saying, and Mattie pushed herself off the door, walking towards him. He leaned up on an elbow, letting her bend down and press a small kiss to his lips, “but Laura is right. I kind of need that jumper right now. Else I might have to go downstairs shirtless, and I don’t think anyone would appreciate that.”

Mattie sighed, and he raised an eyebrow at her. She went around her room, picking up his discarded clothing from the night before, tossing it at him, before stripping out of his jumper, pulling on a hoodie in its place. He extricated himself from her bed, pulling on his clothes. He felt her arms coming to rest around his waist as he pulled on his jumper, and he relaxed back into her embrace. He turned to face her, and found her looking up at him.

“Mum probably suspects what we did last night,” she said, and he nodded.

“Is that okay, for Laura to know?” he asked, and she bit her lip.

“I don’t know. She gave me the safety talk ages ago, so she knew something like this would happen one day with me. I don’t know what she’ll say, or what she’ll do,” Mattie looked down, and he took her hand in his, his thumb stroking over the back of her hand.

“Well, why don’t we face this together?” he said, and she looked at him.

“Together,” she agreed. He let her open the door and pull him out into the hallway, and they were about to go downstairs when Mattie turned to him.

“What?” he asked, and she grinned slightly.

“You know that my mum will definitely tell Mia about this, right?” Leo felt his cheeks redden as Mattie tugged at his hand, leading him downstairs, leading him into whatever the next day would bring for the two of them.

**Author's Note:**

> If you want to leave kudos or comments, feel free. Don't worry if not though!


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